Voices Against Violence gives 1-year progress report

Representatives of the LEAD Coalition, Voices Against Violence, JUDOS and Save Our Youth came together Tuesday to share what has been accomplished in the last year.

ERYN DION News Herald Reporter @PCNHErynDion

PANAMA CITY — One year after members of the community packed into the Bay County Commission chambers looking for change in their neighborhoods, community group Voices Against Violence returned Tuesday to share what has been accomplished.

Started in the wake of police-involved shootings in Minneapolis and Dallas, Voices Against Violence at the time was a way to bring law enforcement to the table with residents.

“We said, we need to come together and talk,” said Janice Lucas, executive director of the LEAD Coalition, VAV's parents organization. “We don’t want to be on the national news. We don’t want to have that kind of thing happen here.”

The first VAV meeting primarily featured speakers from law enforcement agencies. In the 17 meetings the group has held since, it has become more dynamic, bringing in various organizations, nonprofits and concerned citizens wanting to do their part to stem the violence they were seeing in their neighborhoods.

The past year has seen the murders of Alton Mills, Owen Frazier, Ples Robinson and Gerald Smith, along with a handful of shootings in the Foxwood Garden and Macedonia Garden apartment complexes. Residents also have seen the arrests of several local teenagers in connection to these shootings, some as young as 14 years old. During the meeting Tuesday, Lucas said the age of those arrested was concerning and showed a clear lack of support for local youth.

“One of the things we know … is that we as a community, Panama City and surrounding cities need to do more to provide more structured activity for our youth,” she said. “We need to encourage them in more ways.”

Many of the programs giving updates on Tuesday were youth-focused, including Count Me In, a partnership between LEAD Coalition and Jinks Middle School to help address truancy and the underlying issues that cause students to miss school. The group recently held a back-to-school event, during which parents and students could get everything they needed to start school, including immunizations, supplies, uniforms and dental exams.

“You need to be in school to learn so eventually you can succeed,” said Judy Stapleton, who helped lead the initiative. “All of these people are trying to help these children understand that.”

Though not a part of LEAD proper, several organizations that work with LEAD also gave updates, including Juveniles Understanding Discipline, Order and Service (JUDOS). Executive Director Tammy Anderson said JUDOS has started a tutoring and mentoring program, held anti-gang and anti-violence rallies and recently went to a crime-prevention conference in Orlando. The group also partnered with another new group, Save Our Youth (SOY), for a free summer camp.

“You spoke, we listened,” Anderson said.

Tim “Scooter” Brown gave an update on SOY, which sprung up after the winter shootings of Mills and Frazier. Though they started by just holding signs on the side of the road, they’ve quickly moved into direct intervention with youth of all races around Bay County, starting sports leagues, hosting summer camps and going into places like Foxwood and Macedonia to reach those children.

“This is our first time here, but you best believe it won’t be the last time,” Brown said.

While it’s not geared toward youths, LEAD and VAV also started the Home for Good program, targeting inmates in the prison system that will be released in Bay County in the next year. So far, Detria Gainer, who works on the program, said Home for Good has helped numerous individuals re-enter society and has even had a house donated to them to serve as temporary housing for people who have nowhere to go when they’re released.

With everything that had been accomplished in the last year, Lucas closed the meeting by saying there’s still a lot left to do, as reducing violence is a long-term goal.

“We’re making the way for all of us to work together,” she said.

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